Apparatus for treating materials



2 sheets-sheetv 1 www R. G. REYNOLDSON APPARATUS FOR TREATING MATERIALS Filed Feb. 1v, A192,9

Dec. 9,' i941.

XII.

De- 9, 1941 R. G. REYNoLDsoN 2,265,857"

APPARATUS FOR TREATING/MATERIALS -Filed Feb. 17, 1939 2 sheets-sheet 2 [I .f5-w@` 5 0 ffy? @3 Patented ec. 9, 194i 2,265,857 APPARATUS FOR TREATING MATERIALS Roland G. Reynoldson, Madison, Wis.

Appiication February 17, 1939, Serial No. 256,941 4. claims. (o1. 12s-59.5)

Another purpose is the `provision oi an improved method of and apparatus ior smoking meats or other foods or substances.

Another purpose is the provision of an improved means for subjecting wood to destructive distillation and for smoking foods or other substances with the products oi such distillation.

Another purpose is the provision of improved means for obtaining the uniform feed of iinely divided wood or sawdust during the process of distillation.

Another purpose is an improved system for .maintaining and supplying smoke to one or more smoke zones separate from the Zone of smoke production.

Another purpose is the provision of improved means for supplying air to the wood or sawdust during distillation.

Another purpose is the provision of improved means for economizing heat. y

Other purposes will appear from time to time in the course of the specification and claims.

I illustrate my invention more or less diagrammatically in the accompanying drawings wherein:

Fig. l is a vertical section;

Fig. 2 is a section on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a section on the line 3-3 of Fig. l2;

Fig. 4 is an end elevation of the structure .shown in Fig. l;

Fig. 5 is a section on an enlarged scale 'at 5 5 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. Zl illustrati-ng a variant form of my device; and

Fig. 7 is a vertical section through a smokehouse installation.

Like parts are indicated by like characters throughout the specification and drawings.

Referring to the drawings, I generally indicates any suitable surface, floor or the like, upon which my smoking installation may be positioned. 2 illustrates an end bracket, pair of legs or the like, secured at the upper end to any suitable sleeve or member 3 from which extends a conveyor tube G. The conveyor tube may be supported by additional legs or supporting brackets 5, 5 upon which is mounted a heat insulating chamber which may have a bottom i3 of cork or the like, an end member l, an opposite end member 8, sides 9, 9 and a top I. These various wall members maybe formed of any-suitable heat ,in-

vsulant, `cork or the like, but preferably the upper wall or top .IIB `is of a -heat resisting material, magnesia or Vthe like.

Mounted in any suitable manner on the .bot-

tom member S are a plurality of re bricks `or equivalent members 'II shown as positioned on edge to define with the additional bricks I2 a closed chamber, the top of which is completed rby the conveyor tube 4.

I3 is any suitable heating element, gas pipe er the viike, which may be supplied from any suitable gas injector -Ii in communication with the gas supply -line I5 controlled by its valve ||i and any suitable pilot-stat valve I1, the details of which do not form-part of the present invention. rEhe chamber in which the heating member I3 is located is provided with an air inlet at one end, as at I8, and has an outlet passage I9 at its opposite 'end in communica-tion with an outlet housing 20.

Mounted for rotation within theltube 4 lis a shaft 2| carrying the conveyor screw 22. 23 are outlet holes spaced along the top of the tube 1| to permit the volatiles to escape. V'The tube it may also be transversely slotted as `at 24 yin order to compensate for the expansion and contraction due to changes in temperature. 25 is a sawdust hopper, preferably secured to the tube 4 -suiciently solidly, as by bolts, welding or the like, to permit the tube 4 to constitute the sole `support for the hopper, for a purpose which will later appear.

|25 indicates any suitable motor shown as .having drive pulleys 2B, 21 at each end of its armature. The drive Apulley 21 through a belt 28 drives the pulley 259 associated with any suitable transmission Vor gear reducing mechanism 30., .the details of which ,form no part of themselves of the present invention. It will .be understood,

however, that thereby the shaft 2| .and screw .22 may be Yrotated. `in response to rotation of the .motor at a plurality of different speeds. In practice I employ iive :different speeds whereby Athe speed of travel of the material through the tube il may -be controlled :to suit the particular smoking vjob under way. v

3| .indicates a snail shell cam mounted on or rotating in .unison with the shaft 2|. Opposed to it is the lever 32 which termina-tes .at one Aend. in a contact .member '33'.opposed to a wear Vplate 34 weldedor otherwise secured to one .side of the hopper .25. The opposite arm 35 of the lever is Yheld opposed to the snail shell `cam-3|, .for yexample by Vthe spring 36. Thusas the Ashaft -2| rotates the contact member 33 is caused to tap or hammer against the side of the hopper 25. The mounting of the hopper on the tube 4 permits it to vibrate substantially in response to the tapping or hammering action and the result is a settling of the sawdust in the hopper, resulting in an even and uniform feed or delivery of the sawdust in the hopper to the space within the tube 4 and thus to the conveyor screw 22.

38 generally indicates any suitable blower having a fan 39 which may be driven from the pulley 26 as by the belt 40. The blower 38 exhausts through the outlet 4I to a longitudinally extending duct or passage 42 which may be connected by transverse ducts 43 with the interior of the tube 4. These ducts are spaced along and are each provided with any suitable valve or gate means 44 whereby the supply of air may be varied or controlled in relation to the movement of the sawdust along the tube 4.

It will be understood that under many circumstances, and perhaps usually, the air duct 42 need not be employed at all. Thus for destructive distillation, as below set out, I may Yprefer to dispense with the employment of the fan 39 and may supply no additional outside air to the interior of the tube 4.

The tube 4 delivers its solid by-products through an open end 45 to a drum 46 which may be vented or apertured as at 41 to permit air to flow therein. 48 is any suitable pan or surrounding outside sleeve which serves to catch any ash which may escape through the apertures 41. Any suitable means may be employed to admit air to a housing 4B surrounding the drum 46, or the drum may be left in the open. In either event, air heated by `the combustion of the charcoal may pass inwardly along the passage 58 to the space which receives the smoke or volatiles through the apertures 23. The employment of this heat assists in maintaining the smoke or volatiles at relatively high temperature and preventing condensation and in effect substantially increases the eiiciency of my device and method.

It will be understood that I may employ my invention with the tube located in the hollow interior of a smokehouse. In such case, it is not necessary to employ the closed housing, including the top l0, the side members 9, or the end members 1 and 8. In such event, Yvolatiles are exhausted through the apertures 23 directly to the zone of treatment of meat or the like which may be suspended in any suitable manner no herein indicated.

I nd it desirable, however, under many circumstances to position the tube 4 and the Vsmoke generating device at a distance from the zone of treatment. Thus I illustrate in Fig. 'I a plurality of smoke chambers A, B and C. It Will be understood of course that a single chamber may be employed or any suitable number of chambers. Assuming the existence for example of a single distant smoke chamber, I may supply to it the smoke generated in the chamber X of Fig. 1 by employing a motor 5l actuating any suitable blower mechanism 52 ,to exhaust smoke or volatiles along a supply passage 53 which may extend to any suitable zone or chamber of treatment. 54 indicates a return passage from such zone of treatment which delivers the returned gases, air and the like as at 55 to the chamber X adjacent the discharge end of the conveyor. Thus the cold return circulation of smoke and air is delivered to the hottest portion of the chamber X and an economizing effect is obtained as the cold gases move in opposite direction to the direction of movement of the sawdust undergoing heating and distillation.

A certain amount of the return circulation will pass downwardly through the passage I8 in order to scavenge the lower chamber around the burner I3, which chamber is indicated as at Y. The gases so scavenged travel upwardly along the passage I9 to the blower 52. The main circulation of the volatiles, however, is upwardly through the outlet 56 adjacent the feed end of the conveyor, and thence with the passage IQ to the blower 52. The valves or gates 59 and 66 may be employed to control the mixture of gases and the circulation downwardly through the passage I8. It willbe understood also that if desired the passage 54, as shown in dotted line in Fig. 1, may be directed to the chamber 49 so that the return gases are heated by the combustion of the charcoal in the drum 46 and arrive in the chamber X already partially heated.

Referring to Fig. 7, the system therein shown includes the above mentioned separate smokehouses or smoke chambers A, B and C. In Fig. 7 I illustrate the delivery passage 53 in communication with a larger housing 6l which may take the place of the smaller housing formed of the members 1, 8, 9 and I0. In other words, the size of the housing and the amount of the installation surrounded by it are a matter of choice. In supplying sawdust and in removing ash there is a certain advantage, especially in smaller installations, in having the hopper and the ash chamber exterior to the housing. In any event, I illustrate the passage 53 as in communication with a general supply duct 10 having individual supply or smoke delivery passages 1I, 12 and 13 for the chambers A, B and C.

14 is a general outlet duct or chimney or exhaust passage in communication with each of the chambers as through the apertures 15, with the control valves or gates 16. It will be realized, of course, that individual outlet or return ducts may be employed if desired. In the form of Fig. 7, the return passage 54 connects with the outlet duct 14 as at 11 and maintains a return circuit to the interior of the chamber 6I and thus to the smoke generating unit. Any suitableadditional heating means may be employed as at 18 for the individual smokehouses.

Referring to Fig. 6, I may substitute for the hopper vibrating structure of Fig. 4 an actual agitator located in the hopper. IV illustrate for example a crank disc mounted on or driven from the shaft 2l which includes an adjustable crank arm 8| to which may be adjustably secured a link 82 pivoted to a lever 83 on the agitator shaft 84 which carries any suitable agitator member or members 85 located within the hopper.

It will be realized that whereas I have described and illustrated a practical and operative device, nevertheless many changes may be made in the size, shape, number and disposition of parts without departing from the spirit of my invention. I therefore wish my description and drawings to be taken as in a broad sense illustrative, rather than as limiting me to my precise showing.

The use and operation of my invention are as follows:

I provide means for smoking meats and the like which is available for plants of various size and in particular is a-dapted to reduce labor and material costs and increase operating efficiencies. For example, I have so designated my machine that `une llin'g of the hopper 25 is sufcient to carry out the normal full-time smoking operation. Therefore, it willnot be necessary for an attendant to stay by the smoke houses and feed the sawdust as is now necessary in the old method of spreading sawdust on the smokehouse floor.

vI preferably employ a five-speed transmission whereby "the amount of sawdust fed to the smokehouse can be adjusted at five rates. In other words, I provide a flexible arrangement in which rive densities of smoke `are available by merely controlling the speed reduction or transmission.

Ash is collected 'in the closed container i5 and at the end of the smoking period the ash is all accumulated 'in the container which, if desired, can be kept sealed. To clean away the ashes it is merelynefcessary 'for an attendant to remove the container 43 from the smokehouse, it being understood that any suitable means such as the door 49d a're provided to give access to the container 46, the container being preferably freely removable from the end of the tube 4. Thus there Will be no 'fly ash and no dirt carried up onto the meat and 'the walls of the smokehouse or smoke chamber. This reduces the cleaning necessary and is a further factor of labor saving. Concentrating all of the ash in a single container also reduces fire hazard.

I may obtain a .further advantage by employing the apertures di which permit the ash or residual charcoal to smolder and glow and create heat which may be carried into the chamber X through the passage 50. This heat keeps the smoke hot and prevents condensation, for example in the passages I9 and 53.

I find it desirable to employ my conveyor in connection with a separate generation chamber X as shown for example in Fig. l. From this chamber or from the corresponding chamber 6l of Fig. 7, smoke can be directed to a single smokehouse or smokechamber or to a number of smoke chambers. With further relation to fire hazard, the generation unit may be entirely outside of the main building and may be located for example in a supplemental chamber El, as shown in Fig. 7. A single fireproof chamber further prevents fire risks.

In the operation of the generating means, I nd it useful to vibrate or tap the hopper in order to insure an even and constant delivery of sawdust to the screw 22. I illustrate alternative means in Figs. 4 and 6, in the rst instance employing an external hammer 33 and in the second an internal agitator 85.

I find the employment of an enclosed circuit circulation highly advantageous and employ the warm air from the smokehouse or smoke chamber as a conveyor and thereby reduce the use of fresh air to a minimum. This cuts down smoke loss, saves fuel, and increases efficiency. A certain amount of smoke, of course, is exhausted upwardly through the flue 14, but a substantial proportion is returned along the return duct 54 and this return air acts as a conveyor for the smoke and reduces the amount of fresh air. I find for example that the normal leakage of the system is enough to provide for whatever additional supply of fresh air is necessary.

Under some circumstances it may be desirable to supply additional outside air directly to the sawdust undergoing distillation. I do this by employing the fan 39 to deliver air along the duct vprevents condensation in the Adelivery pipes.

"dlwhenfce it reaches the interior of the tube through the side passages I3, which may be lindividually adjusted as byvalves 44 to vary the supply of air at different points along the conveyor path. Under normal circulation, however, I find it advisable to cut off the youtside air supply.

One advantage of employing the system as shown for example in Fig. '7 is that I can independently vary the smoke density of a plurality of chambers A, B and C. I may employ for example an air conduit Hill which if necessary may be vsupplied with airvby any suitable fan means lill. An air inlet W2 may be provided for each of the chambers A, AB and C, these air inlets being valved as at m3 whereby they may be 'entirely closed or set at any desired opening. The result is the practical and rapid varying of the lightness of the smoke in any particular smokehouse or chamber.

Where the entire unit is housed in the chamber SI, or where the passage 54 communicates with the chamber t9,` as in Fig. 1, the heat of combustion of the charcoal is `employed. in keeping the smoke hotter than it otherwise would be. This It will be noted further, as in Fig. l, that the return air along thepassage 54 is delivered at the hot end of the conveyor, whereas the smoke is delivered from the cold end of the conveyor. The movement of thesm'oke'be'ing in great part lalong the path of the conveyor and in the opposite direction, a heat economizing effect is obtained.

The intermittent operation of the screw 2'2 is effective to permit the sawdust to be at rest a substantial part of the time, a condition preferable for heat transmission. However, the sawdust is moved often enough and far enough to obtain a thorough agitating effect and thus to promote even distillation.

The supports 2 and 5 constitute, with the passage 4, a self-contained unit which can be bodily moved or removed. This is advantageous in small plants and in modification or reconstruction plants.

I claim:

1. In an apparatus for smoking articles, a conveyor, means for feeding finely divided wood particles thereto, means for heating the particles while on said conveyor, and for thereby driving off volatiles therefrom, means for receiving the end solids left after the volatiles have been driven off, means for delivering oxygen to said end solids and for thereby causing their combustion, and means for directing heat from said combustion to the zone of treatment of the articles undergoing smoking.

2. In an apparatus for smoking meats and the like, a plurality of walls defining a primary smoke chamber, a generally tubular smoke producing conduit extending through said smoke chamber and through opposite Walls thereof, the length of said tubular member substantially exceeding its diameter, said tubular member being provided with aperture means longitudinally extending along the upper surface thereof, a screw conveyor located in said tubular member, a sawdust container exterior to said primary smoke chamber in communication with one end of said screw conveyor, an ash container exterior to said smoke chamber in communication with the opposite end of the screw conveyor, and additional walls located within said primary smoke chamber and defining, with said tubular member, a heating space, heating means located within said heating space and adapted to subject the wall of said tubular member to sufcient heat to cause a distillation of the Vsawdust passing thereover, without creating full combustion, motor means for rotating said screw conveyor substantially continuously during the process of distillation and for thereby conveying sawdust, during distillation, from the sawdust container and through the primary smoke chamber, and means for supplying air to said ash container and for thereby causing combustion of the ash thereto delivered.

3. In an apparatus for smoking meats and the like, a plurality of walls dening a primary smoke chamber, a generally tubular smoke producing conduit extending through said smoke chamber and through opposite walls thereof, the length of said tubular member substantially exceeding its diameter, said tubular member being provided with aperture means longitudinally extending along the upper surface thereof, a screw conveyor located in said tubular member, a sawdust container exterior to said primary smoke chamber in communication with one end of said screw conveyor, an ash container exterior to said smoke chamber in communication with the opposite end of the screw conveyor, and additional walls 1ocated within said primary smoke chamber and dening, with said tubular member, a heating space, heating means located within said heating space and adapted to subject the wall of said tubular member to sucient heat to cause a distillation of the sawdust passing thereover, without creating full combustion, motor means for rotating said screw conveyor substantially continuously during the process of distillation and for thereby conveying sawdust, during distillation, from the sawdust container and through the primary smoke chamber, means for supplying air to said ash container and for thereby causing combustion of the ash thereto delivered, and means for delivering air heated by the combustion of said ash to the primary smoke chamber.

4. In an apparatus for smoking meats and the like, a generally tubular smoke producing conduit, the length of the conduit substantially exceeding its diameter, the conduit being provided with aperture means longitudinally extending along the upper wall thereof, a screw conveyor located in said'tubular conduit, means for delivering sawdust for distillation to said tubular conduit, means for heating the exterior of said conduit suiliciently to cause distillation of sawdust passing therethrough, without creating full combustion of the sawdust, motor means for rotating said screw conveyor substantially continuously during the process of distillation and for thereby conveying the sawdust, during distillation, along and beneath the longitudinally extending aperture means, and means for delivering air to said conduit at a plurality at points along the length thereof, including a plurality of ducts in connection with the interior of said conduit, and individually controllable valve means for said ducts.

ROLAND G. REYNOLDSON. 

